


Wild Justice

by gritkitty, Nestra



Category: Roswell New Mexico (TV 2019)
Genre: Gen, past Michael/Alex
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-08-04
Updated: 2019-08-04
Packaged: 2020-07-30 18:27:36
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 518
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20101663
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/gritkitty/pseuds/gritkitty, https://archiveofourown.org/users/Nestra/pseuds/Nestra
Summary: Pettiness isn't the best revenge, but it's pretty fucking enjoyable.





	Wild Justice

Even after Alex leaves, Michael tries to steer well clear of Jesse Manes. No point in letting the asshole see him and decide to punish him some other way, like pinning a theft or assault on him.

But every time he sees Manes, his hand aches, and the rage builds in him like a white-hot blaze. Nearby objects rattle, and if he's not careful, things are likely to fall off the nearest flat surface. Eventually, he figures out a way to let out some of his anger and fine-tune his powers.

He starts small. Manes comes out of a store one day to find a flat tire on his Jeep. Not that Michael sticks around to see the result—he figures hauling ass is the better part of valor. Same with the cracked windshield and the untied shoelaces.

After that, he's ready to crank up the degree of difficulty. He learns exactly how much to loosen the tops of salt shakers and ketchup bottles. A small, targeted wave of telekinesis can knock food right off Manes' fork and onto his pristine white shirt.

As much as it kills him, he's careful, sometimes waiting months in between these little attacks. The last thing he wants is for Manes to catch on and retaliate against him—or even worse, against Alex.

Once he's mastered the small, targeted movements, he starts to go bigger, unobtrusively sliding cars closer to the parked Jeep until they're too close for Manes to open the door when he returns. Cracking a pipe in exactly the right way at exactly the right place to guarantee that Manes gets a blast of water in his face when he leans over a bathroom sink.

The bathroom gives him another idea, and he spends a solid year messing with Manes' aim at the urinal, just enough that his shoes always smell a little like piss. It's petty as hell, and Michael enjoys it more than almost anything in his life.

It takes a few close calls for Michael to decide he needs to cut it out. But he's determined to fuck with Manes one more time, and to make it count.

So he waits for the next snowfall. He waits until Manes is walking by himself, on a sidewalk that's been cleared and salted. Should be completely safe. Shouldn't be ice anywhere. Except where Michael's blown some snow across it, then applied enough friction for it to melt and refreeze.

Manes goes down hard. Michael thinks he can hear the snap as Manes' arm breaks, or maybe he's just imagining it so vividly that his mind creates the sound for him. He watches from a safe distance as Manes lets out one stifled yell and then curls over in silent pain.

Unlike Michael, years ago, Manes will get to the emergency room. He'll get proper medical treatment, and the bones will heal correctly. But maybe, if Michael is lucky, the arm will always bother Manes a little bit when the weather changes or when he twists it the wrong way.

He hopes so. And he hopes it fucking hurts.

**Author's Note:**

> Most of the words by me, premise and at least half of the torments by grit kitty.
> 
> Title from Francis Bacon.


End file.
